Yami strained his neck to catch a glimpse of Seto through the crowd of kids but found himself surrounded too. The parents were raining questions down on him nonstop while blocking his view of the children in the grass.
"What academy does your ward attend?" The mage mother asked sweetly, while a boar-headed man grunted and barged to sit in the space beside her, speaking fluid elvish, "Is it The Tachyon Academy, given how skilled he is at Quantum Casting? What's his level at that age? May I appraise you?"
Yami edged away and held his hand up defensively, ready to block any unwanted appraisals coming his way as he replied, "thank you for your interest, but Seto isn't enrolled in any Academy right now. We're still working on identifying his skills—"
There was a bright flash of light beaming from the middle of the field, and Yami stayed rooted to the spot with horror as all the parents whipped their heads around to see one elf boy on the ground, on all fours, looking furious while Seto was being protected by four of the beast children.
"You won't even fight your own fights, Dragon-boy?!" The elf child spat, rising to his feet with his hand raised in a casting position, while the beast children huddled tighter around Seto's elbows, taking instruction from the anteater girl who had become their natural leader.
"Seto can't perform magic safely! His channels are broken!" The anteater hissed, throwing her arms out to the side to cast another defense shield. "Warp off to another dimension, Porter! No one here likes you."
"You warp off, you long-snouted…bear! What even are you?!" Another elf boy shouted as he rushed forward to steady his friend Porter but was elbowed aside with a snarl.
"I want him to duel me. Not you, pig face!" Porter growled, shoving his sleeves up his arms.
Wow, I'm pissed for her, Seto thought mildly as the children huddled closer to him, half out of fear and the other half out of compassion the moment they heard his 'channels' had been broken.
"Let's cast a deafening spell," the tiger-headed girl beside him whispered, and her boar-headed friend nodded. "And let's split the field. I hate them."
"But their side of the field has more particles," the horse-hooved boy whined, crossing his arms and leaning his shoulder harder into Seto's much smaller one. "What do you think, baby dragon? What can you cast? Are you really broken?"
Seto bit the inside of his cheek and nodded, the tips of his ears burning as he muttered, "do you guys want to see too?"
"Ooo, can we?" The tiger girl sounded genuinely interested, and she received a hard nudge from her boar-headed friend. "Ow. What? …I wanna see it."
Seto held his breath, accessing the situation.
Anteater girl and the two elf boys were still exchanging insults, so he could safely kneel within the cover of the other kids to take off his hat.
Slowly lowering himself down on one knee, Seto reached up to swipe his hat off, hearing sharp gasps before he hastily crammed it back atop his head, standing to shove his hands into his pockets, feeling rushes of concern, disbelief, and pity that didn't belong to him.
O-Oh shit. The other kids really cared about his condition.
There was a fearful silence before the horse kid spoke up in an awed whisper, "th-those aren't dragon horns…"
"Yeah, course not, dummy," the boar kid spoke up finally, his voice rough with emotion. "We're not fighting them. We're leaving. C'mon guys."
Seto found himself being whisked away by his new group of friends, with the anteater girl standing her ground to continue arguing with the elf boys.
"He's a baby. Pick on someone your own age," the anteater girl huffed, and she turned to hurry after Seto and the other kids, feeling a cold wind picking up behind her that raised the hair on the backs of her arms.
She spun around to throw another defense shield, but the elf boy was faster and nastier, casting spiked brambles up from the ground like threatening snakes, shooting right at her, aiming to hurt.
Seto twisted around in shock and felt all his new friends tense in horror before they sprang into action, rapidly raising their hands, trying to cast a counter spell in return, but they were doing it all verbally while the elf boy was chanting in his mind, filling Seto's head with a strange buzzing that made his ears ache.
Gritting his teeth in fury, Seto reached into his pocket for his quieting stone and threw it with all his might at the elf boy, seeing it zip in a straight line and hit him in the shoulder, toppling him back with such force that his brambles went limp, enough time for the counter spells of his new friends to fry them to a black crisp. The charred branches crumpled to the ground by the anteater girl's feet, and she stood there in absolute shock while the three kids surrounding Seto breathed audible sighs of relief.
"Nice aim," Seto felt the horse boy nudge him and give him a snorting laugh. "Pure elves heal fast and are basically invincible with how much HP they have. Porter's family is a buncha pricks. Next time hit him in the head."
I just might, Seto thought dryly, and he walked forward to retrieve his stone, feeling the anteater girl catch him by the elbow to hold him back with a frantic shake of her snout.
"Don't! Don't hurt him even if his HP is high!" She breathed, and Seto gave her a dry smile and a half-shrug.
"I need my stone back," Seto replied simply, gazing into her large, beady eyes.
She blinked and let go of him, but Seto could feel her doubt.
He approached the elf boy who was sitting pitifully on the ground, and he made steady eye contact as he bent down beside the boy's leg to pick up his stone. The kid shrank back in fear as his green eyes roamed from the top of Seto's hat to the bottoms of his sharp dress shoes.
S-Something off about this dragon boy…
He dressed like a human for starters…
"Truce?" Seto flashed his fangs in a grimace as he reached his hand out for a shake. "I'll weave your mesh sacks together, but you'll give me 15 gold for it. That's the condition."
"Or…how about I send you flying back to your nest, you fanged freak," the elf shot back angrily, his cheeks pink as he desperately tried to act tough in front of his friends. "You cheated…! You hit me with a rock! No one saw it cuz you threw it too fast, you cheater!"
"Or how about…" Seto was beginning to lose his patience because arguing with this low-level brat wasn't worth his time. "I let you have this one. Tell everyone you fell over. Got it? Now give me your sack and agree to give me 15 more gold for weaving it together…or I'll tell all the girls over there what really happened. And that makes you the real loser who can't stand on two feet while casting."
The elf boy swallowed visibly while his eyes widened, and they held a brief staring contest while the wind ruffled their hair. He could feel everyone holding their breath, waiting for them to shake hands.
"No? I'll ask your friends, and I'm sure they'll agree to 15 gold for merged sacks," Seto lowered his hand and turned to leave. "Last chance to make a lot of money together."
Wait! Wait… I…accept! The elf boy shouted furiously in his mind as he scrambled to his feet, but what came out of his mouth was, "8 gold—"
"12 gold, and I don't burn your face off with my fire breath, asshole," Seto whirled around in a contained fury to snarl at the boy, realizing the top of his head only reached the other kid's chest, but he stood his ground.
The elf boy wrinkled his nose and turned his head to the side, visibly fighting with himself.
"What's an asshole?" He asked gruffly, but then relented and nodded. "Fine. 12 gold and you weave mine with all my friends. And the girls."
"No. The girls didn't ask me personally," Seto said calmly as he saw the other elf boys approaching him with their half-filled sacks. "If they want something from me, they should ask me themselves."
And he knelt to spread the sacks out on the ground, starting with the lighter ones, feeling his new friends come up behind him to hover protectively around him while he worked.
"And say thank you, Porter," the boar-headed kid insisted, resting his hand heavily on Seto's shoulder, nearly causing his fingers to slip on a thread while weaving. "Thank him properly. Elf-manners-style."
The elf boy turned red in the face and kicked the grass with his pointed boot, hissing, "frick no! I'm already giving him 12 gold!"
"You're lucky he'll accept your 12 measly gold," the anteater girl sniffed, pointing at the ground with a firm finger. "Thank him properly, or we'll take your sacks too and you gotta go ask mommy and daddy for more because you let the mean monster kids steal your loot because you can't defend yourself by casting anything."
There was a tense silence, and Seto finished weaving, gently lumping the floating particles together in the large sack, secretly understanding that this was why demons and elves didn't get along. They were almost evenly matched, with elves being slightly prettier and demons being slightly more powerful.
He stood and handed the elf boy his sack with both hands and nodded stiffly, having had enough of the bickering from all sides because it was giving him a headache.
"I'll be splitting the 12 gold with my team," Seto said cleverly, seeing the elf boy's eyes widen. "We don't have to be friends, but can we make a truce? All your shouting is making my teeth ache."
"Why, is it cuz your back teeth haven't grown in yet?" The boy asked nastily, but he changed his tone just as fast, accepting the single large sack with both hands, nodding his head in a stiff manner. "T-Thanks. But this doesn't mean I like you."
"You're welcome, and I dislike you too," Seto said smoothly, bowing stiffly and hearing deathly silence behind him from his new friends, and from the elves in front of him.
W-What?!
"You have nice elf manners," the elf boy said finally, tucking his hands behind his back and giving him a deeper bow in return. "And for that, I'll give you and your friends 15 gold."
Good, Seto thought sourly, turning to walk away.
He could feel his new friends sticking to his side, jumping up and down with glee at the thought of 15 gold between them all.
"Nice negotiating! Guess it pays off to live in clans," the tiger-girl praised, and the horse-boy gave Seto another playful nudge.
"Sorry for hating you earlier. You looked like an elf."
"Yeah," the boar-headed kid added, giving him an apologetic shrug. "But you have blue eyes. Sorry we should've noticed sooner."
Seto didn't know what to say, so he lowered his head and gripped the edge of his mesh sack. The anteater girl piped up cheerfully, "let's run! We can fill this whole thing up really fast! Ready?"
The other three nodded, and they all took off running with the sack high over their heads. Seto felt the fabric leave his fingertips as the taller kids yanked it out of his grasp to wave the sack above them, grinning and laughing as they ran in methodical circles around the meadow, starting from the other edge and slowly circling back to the middle.
Seto gazed up at the happy faces around him as he dashed alongside them, his feet lifting nicely off the ground with every leap forward, and he felt a pang in his chest that felt strangely like joy.
He was having…fun.
The sack was full to bursting after they collapsed in the shade, their chests heaving with exertion while they all tried to catch their breaths.
"Look at thiiiiiis!" The anteater girl crowed, running her palm over the enormous, glowing sack. "Thanks, Seto! You're the best!"
"Yeah!" The horse-boy chorused as he leaned to give Seto a quick, one-armed hug. "You should come to our school! Demons are so cool."
Seto bit his lower lip and quietly corrected him, "but don't tell anyone. It's supposed to be a secret."
There was a stunned silence, followed by, "Whyyyyy?!" from the tiger girl and the boar-headed boy while the anteater girl nodded questioningly.
"Humans…ordered a slaughter on my village," Seto said quietly, wondering if he should even be speaking about this. "I'm not supposed to be alive. I'm living in hiding as an elf or something."
There was another long, terrified silence, and he could feel searing pangs of sorrow emanating from the kids sitting around him, so much that Seto sorely regretted saying anything.
"I'll keep your secret," the anteater girl declared firmly, giving him a rough clap on the back. "You're my first friend, so I'll do anything for you."
"Shut up, Alisse. We've always been your friends. You just don't wanna hang out with us," the horse boy said loudly, and Seto laughed so suddenly, his throat burned.
His gaze traveled to the small hill in the distance where all the parents were sitting and realized the formation had changed. Yami was no longer alone at the edge, but had been surrounded by other parents with animal characteristics while the more human-looking parents sat off to the side in their own, small group on their colored blankets.
A human woman was getting too close to Yami, resting her hand on his arm and giving him a squeeze while she smiled cheerfully into his face, her mouth moving as she talked while Yami appeared to be visibly uncomfortable.
"Ew. My mom likes your dad," the anteater girl clapped a hand over her snout, and Seto had to correct her again, his blood boiling as he said, "that's not my dad. He's my legal guardian."
"You mean your Instructor?" The boar-headed boy asked curiously as he watched his father attempt to appraise the spiky-haired mage but was met with a firm block.
"Oof. Your dad just got blocked," the horse boy commented carelessly, and Seto blinked rapidly, his excitement rising as he saw a wave of silvery light rush out from underneath the boar-headed man's body. W-What was that?!
"How do you block appraisals?" Seto asked hungrily, and he received surprised looks from all the kids sitting around him. W-What? It was like he grew another head any time he asked a question.
"You don't know how to block appraisals?" The tiger-head girl echoed, shaking her head in disbelief. "But you're a demon."
"He's a baby demon. Let him learn," the anteater girl jumped to his defense again. "Seto, you'll wanna hold up your mental defenses strong and don't waver. You'll feel a push from the person trying to appraise you. If they're stronger than you, usually they can override the surface of your blocking and see main traits, like your original hair and eye color, but that's it. You can hide yourself well if you learn to block well."
O-Okay, Seto squared his shoulders back with determination and nodded.
"Appraise me. I'll block it," he said carefully, and the anteater girl turned to face him with a determined air, not waiting a second before saying very clearly, "Appraise—!" And Seto felt himself grow cold all over, but he gripped his knees and held his ground, looking at a point over her shoulder while he felt a dull headache throbbing at the front of his forehead.
Ah… This was how?!
After a moment of silence, the headache faded, and the anteater gave him a proud nod.
"Good job! I saw nothing. Everything said 'null', which is so cool," she gushed, and the other kids scrambled to sit in front of him, shouting their appraisals before he had time to brace himself
"Appraise!" The tiger-girl declared, while the boar-headed boy shoved her aside to do the same. "Appraise!"
"Appraise…Appraise!" The horse boy shrieked, and Seto was bombarded with hot and cold flashes, but they were all weak.
It felt like icy hot and cold winds breezing by, and they only lasted a few seconds.
Wow. Appraisal assault from three kids wasn't too bad.
It made him think maybe he could block an appraisal from Yami in the future.
"Null HP?" The tiger girl cried, gripping her face dramatically with her clawed hands. "NULL SPECIES?!"
"Stop screaming, they'll hear you!" The boar boy muttered, and Seto felt a nervous pang shoot through him that was shared within the whole group as Yami stood up from his blanket to make his way over to their tree.
"Crap. Your Instructor is coming," the horse boy squeaked, and he scrambled to sit behind his boar-headed friend. "He looks like a powerful mage since he blocked Benson's dad's appraisal so easily."
"My dad is level 600. Your teacher has to be higher than 600 to block my dad," The boar boy said proudly, and Yami overheard this as he approached the shade with the four children, but he decided to act like he'd heard nothing.
So the children had seen that sneaky appraisal from the boar-headed man. Unavoidable.
"Seto, would you like something to eat?" Yami asked lightly, gazing proudly at the giant sack which the children were sitting protectively in front of. "I'm glad you made some friends! Ready to submit your sack of particles?"
Seto grit his teeth and felt himself being jostled playfully by his new friends who all stood up, lugging the sack behind them and grinning at Yami.
"Ready!" The anteater girl cried excitedly, reaching down to yank Seto up to his feet so hard that Seto swayed on the spot. "C'mon. Let's get our gold."
Yami felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he followed the children to the large yellow tent. He helped levitate the glowing sack onto the counter, and the rabbit-headed man beamed, setting the large sack on a scale while the children waited with bated breaths.
Seto wasn't really sure what was happening, so he contented himself with merely watching the scale sag to one side and produce a number floating above the golden support stand.
835.
The tiger-headed girl dove at him with a hug, nearly squeezing the air out of his lungs as the two boys celebrated furiously, pumping the air and dancing.
"YESSSSSSSS! I'm RICH!" The horse-boy howled, and Seto winced from the volume, watching as the man behind the counter handed them five heavy sacks of gold, which Yami helped levitate into their arms.
The weight of the money sagged into his chest as he was dragged away from the counter and once again sitting in the shade of the tree while his new friends emptied the sacks and began to sort the coins out in giant piles.
Yami sat pleasantly off to the side, trying to enjoy the sun just as the children's parents caught up to them and sat beside him against the trunk.
The anteater child's human mother was the first to touch Yami on the arm, and Seto felt his blood boil when he saw this.
"Mage Yami…!" The woman cooed, cozying up beside the mage to playfully loop her arm around his. "Bring your Seto over for a playdate sometime—"
"Ew. Mom, stop," the anteater girl grimaced, and Seto stared into her face, fascinated. He couldn't deny that the animal characteristics were endearing to look at after he got over the initial shock. Anteaters were kind of…cute?
"What, you don't want to play with your new friend?" The mother frowned and gave her daughter a stern look. "We're having him over. How does next week sound?"
Yami edged away from her and felt a heavy hand come down atop his shoulder, causing him to sweat even more as the boar-headed man loomed closer, the edge of his tusks brushing the tips of his spiky hair as he chuckled deeply, "how about I bring Benson over to you? That boy needs a study buddy."
"No I don't!" The boar-headed boy protested furiously, shooting Seto a furtive glare and hissing under his breath. "And my dad will make me study extra hard especially since you're younger than me but way more powerful, but not because you're a mage's apprentice, but because of the other thing."
Seto nodded tensely. The tiger girl and the horse boy pushed a giant stack of gold coins towards him silently and gathered their own money into their parents' bags, clearly eager to leave without further talking.
"Let's exchange location cards," the tiger girl's mother said hopefully as her child was tugging insistently at her skirt, trying to get them to leave. "My baby girl heard the word 'study' and is trying to escape."
A laugh rippled through the parents and Seto noticed a clear bead of sweat shining in the hairline above Yami's ear, and his heart skipped a beat. Aw… Was Yami stressed? Well, ha. If he hadn't forced this stupid quest, maybe they wouldn't be talking to all these other parents right now.
Seto tapped his anteater friend on the leg and sent her a frantic thought. Hey, don't freak out, but my guardian is on edge. We need to leave now. I don't live in a real home that anyone can visit… I don't even attend school because I'm in hiding. Can you help?
Yep, she replied with an impassive face as she stood up and grabbed her mother by the arm, stomping her foot.
"Mommy, I will agree to the playdate if we leave now, and Seto will only come over to my house!" She announced shrilly, and the other kids nodded fervently in agreement, not making eye contact with their parents. "Benson, Maddie, and Elian can all come over too. But I'm not going over to any of their houses. Everyone comes over to my house only."
The kids all nodded furiously again, and their parents frowned in concern.
"Why?" The boar-headed man asked with a visible frown. "We live in District 3. Do I hear some bias from you, little Alisse?"
"No, I just want everyone to come over to my house first," the anteater girl said firmly, and Seto saw Yami stand so fast, he felt a gust of wind.
"Time to go, Seto," the mage said as he wrapped his hand stiffly around Seto's tiny wrist and dragged him out of the circle of parents.
Seto twisted his head around to see the anteater girl and the other kids waving enthusiastically at him, so he lifted his hand tentatively to wave back while a bright light engulfed his vision, and his head spun when Yami teleported them to an empty clearing.
"Changed your mind about making me make friends?" Seto asked cattily, bearing his fangs in a grin as Yami delicately swept the sweat off his brow and gave him a stern frown.
"I think it's great that you're making friends," the mage said gently as he gestured at the empty field of tall grass before them. "We can have them over sometime. Look!"
Seto crossed his arms and watched as Yami trailed his fingers in a graceful pattern, tracing something in the air until shimmering threads of light appeared, followed by a plain-looking house with brick walls, a sturdy roof, and a wooden door.
Oh, dang, Seto thought, crestfallen as he counted the windows on the front-side of the building, only seeing three. Yikes. Small-ass place but whatever.
"Like it? It's nice, right?" Yami asked excitedly, leading Seto through the magical barrier and mending it behind him when the child stepped through. "My first attempt. Perhaps we can add a stable later on, because look at all this space!"
Seto blinked and swiveled his gaze around the monstrous field, seeing trees dotting in the distance in a straight line as he managed to ask, "…All this space is yours? This whole clearing?"
"Yep!" Yami replied carelessly as he walked up the front steps of the home and pushed the door open. "I've managed to cast a protective sphere around this entire area. I'll teach you where the openings are after you come in and choose your room."
Ugh, I was right about his house being in the middle of nowhere! Seto kept his expression pleasant as he stepped into the humble home and glanced around in disdain.
Everything was laid out like an old home, with a tiny kitchen, an exposed fireplace, a small dining area by a low window, and a narrow hallway that led into three rooms.
Walking carefully into each room, Seto bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep his mind blank, but his thoughts were leaking badly, and he knew it.
I want to give him architectural pointers! He screamed silently when he was met with an empty room that had low ceilings, one small closet, and one square window. Big yikes.
He stood by the door of the smallest room and turned to Yami with a stiff smile, "I'll take this room." And move out as soon as possible. This room was barely an upgrade from Mai's upstairs closet. In fact, he might prefer the room at the bar, merely because it was in the city.
"I thought you might say that," Yami said warmly, and he knelt to begin materializing furniture in the room. The small, four poster bed he'd been sleeping on rose from the floor, followed by the overflowing bookcase, the rickety wooden desk, and the small end table, lining up neatly against the wall, just the way it was laid at Mai's inn.
The only change was there was room for another bookcase, and another coat hanger, but that was it.
Nauseated, Seto gave Yami a stiff smile and thanked him.
"I love it," he said flatly, trying not to feel ungrateful, but his blood was secretly boiling at how rudimentary everything was. He needed to learn more magic, and fast, so he could upgrade his own shit.
"Good! You can slowly redecorate when we go back into town to pick out things you like," Yami encouraged gently, trying not to feel offended at Seto's thoughts about how he wanted to upgrade his own things with magic. To his knowledge, demons loved simplicity, so he thought this would please the child. Apparently, he was wrong, or Seto was just being strange.
Seto tugged on Yami's sleeve and gave him a pleading look, "can I pick out furniture from the dwarf shop that's right next door to Mai's bar?"
"We'll see…" Yami nodded and broke out into a nervous sweat, giving Seto a frantic pat on the back. The dwarven establishment beside Mai's tavern belonged to greedy, high-level dwarfs who charged too much for their labor, so much that people began hiring help from outside of town….
"So…no?" Seto said perceptively, noticing Yami's frown and hearing a faint thought about greedy dwarfs. Well, damn. Then he'd make his own fucking furniture.
"I didn't say no," Yami replied lightly, drawing Seto closer to his side as he drew an invisible circle around their feet with the tip of his pointed shoe. "Now let's head back and get you something to eat," and a bright, white light flashed, teleporting them back into Mai's upstairs room.
Seto winced and brushed the hair irritably out of his eyes when they arrived in his barren room.
Yami barely had time to adjust his cloak properly around his shoulders when Mai burst into the room breathlessly and made a cutting gesture across her neck with one hand, her violet eyes wide with fear.
GUARDS! District guards! Mai thought frantically, and Yami frowned, sharpening his own senses to hear the heavy thumping of footsteps coming from downstairs, followed by the clink of armor and the telltale rustle of coin pouches belonging to a group of guards from their district.
Oh gods. Were they being inspected?
Well, it was fine.
Mai didn't currently have any illicit herbs or goods in her pantry…and Anja was a registered dragon with the Board of Monster Safety….
"HEY! Isn't this place supposed to be open?!" A voice thundered from below, followed by impatient sighing, and Seto winced at the volume.
"You two need to leave…now," Mai whispered darkly as she turned with a swish of her apron to run back down the stairs, changing her tone dramatically. "Cominnnggg darlings!"
Yami grimaced and knelt quickly to press his hand flat against the hardwood floor, turning it completely transparent, and Seto's amazement rose when he could see a group of guards standing imposingly by Mai's bar, the image crystal clear. W-Wow.
What a cool surveillance trick! He needed to learn this spell too…
Mai had her arms crossed firmly across her large chest while one guard was leaning over the edge of the bar, intimidating her.
"We need 650 bowls of that all-status healing potion that you're making and selling here without a permit," the man growled. "Start producing it."
Mai blinked coolly and replied, "I don't make it. I find it…in the forest. Someone is leaving it out there for adventurers. I merely gather them. And I'm only charging for deliveries. How much do you charge for an All-Status curing serum or spell? What's considered a fair amount—"
"Shut the fuck up you elf bitch," the head guard spat nastily, and Seto felt a rush of hatred for the man, making his cheeks burn. "I didn't travel all this way to hear you lie. You are easily the most powerful elf registered here in this sorry excuse of a 'safe zone'. Make the potion for our army and we won't burn your tavern down."
Mai shrugged and rolled her eyes casually, still unfazed by the hissing and insults as she answered, "I told you the truth. Not my problem you don't want to believe me. Go into the forest and find the potions yourself."
I hate them! Seto reeled, gripping Yami's robe sleeve so hard, his palms grew damp.
He felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder, but that didn't help his mood. It was his fault Mai was being harassed by guards right now, and they weren't doing anything to help her.
Why was Yami restraining him when he could kill them all with one look?!
Author's note:
wuh ohhhhh! A visit from the guards….